


Remembering Normalcy

by yuletide_archivist



Category: Blood-Smoke Series - Tanya Huff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2007-12-15
Updated: 2007-12-15
Packaged: 2018-01-25 01:30:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1624418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yuletide_archivist/pseuds/yuletide_archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Amy and Jack always meant to get a bit closer, but things keep getting in their way. Dates and ghosts and co-workers galore.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Remembering Normalcy

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks as always to the organizers.   
>  Nothing of the characters belong to us, but they are lovely nonetheless.
> 
> Written for pollyrepeat

 

 

Amy had to admit that there were times, not too often of course, when she just wanted to be special.

Sure, she had pink streaks and wild hair, and sometimes goth makeup -- but that wasn't really the special she wanted. Amy wanted to be like Tony, wanted to have some way to add some magical (not magickal) ass groping to the world.

She wasn't asking for much - really - just the ability to kick ass (or grab it) by herself.

Days where things were routine -- "CB Productions, how can I direct your call?" -- just made her want to throw up. Throw her hands in the air and run away screaming to the circus - or Davies Street -- whatever came first, really. Amy never really liked to think of herself as picky.

Maybe that was why she was so happy pestering Tony about his non-public/public love life with Lee.

After all - it wasn't every day that an exciting cop started to leave messages for her - most days she was left alone trying to ignore all the freaks in the bullpen. So she'd been bugging Tony about his love life for far longer than even she wanted to admit. It was almost vicarious, but that was lame and Amy was nothing if not unique.

It wasn't that Amy didn't date - she did, and she loved the guys (and girls) she'd met through her chat groups and anime sites - she just didn't date anyone to take home to mom.

Jack, though. Jack was _different_. Her mom would actually love Jack. Normally that thought completely petrified Amy. She'd made her life on being different. Amy wasn't a fool, she knew what she was doing and why she was doing it. So, Jack...

Jack had been unexpected.

At first it had seemed almost like it just came out of the life-death-save-Tony's-ass kind of thing. Like a group mentality. Kind of like reverse-Stockholm syndrome... without anything that looked like kidnapping involved. Just a band of roving wizards and lackeys who could kick ass together - all that group bonding stuff. But after a while Amy realized it wasn't just that.

And so, they'd tried a coffee shop for a brief get together, staring with something informal. The coffee shop was a place that she frequented near Davies Street that always seemed to go over well for any of her dates - no matter how far out or normal the person she brought along was. Just this side of funky, it looked like an import store had thrown up in the middle of a pride parade. Dim lighting made it that much nicer -- that much more exotic.

Jack had been uncomfortable. Almost comically so, and it had taken her a while to figure out why. It wasn't like Jack was homophobic at all or anything. Wasn't like he cared that the couple sitting a few feet away from him seemed more intent on drinking each others coffee through lip lock. None of that seemed to really bother him, and when Amy finally forced the story out, she promised that Becca, the proprietor of the shop, was definitely going to get a bit more respect from her.

Jack had done a bust in the place years before - when it had been one of the select few BD&SM clubs in the area that still needed code words and SM? Yeah, back then it hadn't counted for _stand_ or _model_.

The end of their first date had been standing awkwardly on the street corner in the rain. Soaked through, and starting to wonder if Jack was ever going to kiss her, they'd parted with a handshake.

Amy couldn't swear to it, but she was pretty sure she caught "idiot" and "moron" a few times as Jack walked away.

\- -

Jack chose the next place. An art gallery in North Vancouver that Amy was sure he'd probably used before. It was pretty nice, with free wine being liberally passed around the hundred or so who had shown up for the showing. Jack probably did well with most of the women he brought here.

Amy was bored out of her mind.

It wasn't that she didn't like art - Amy loved art - but early impressionistic modernist reinterpretations lost her somewhere in the translation. She preferred to find her art a little more... vintage. Maybe a bit more Value Village if she was going to be honest with herself.

Jack realized this quickly and thankfully seemed to echo her boredom with the place. They left in about fifteen minutes flat and stopped at a sushi place in the Quay, one of those drive-by fast food rip offs that was actually open later than four in the winter. This time, though, Jack made sure to lean in a little longer than necessary on the hug.

When Amy tried to kiss him, he was already gone.

\- -

Tony leaned over her desk the next morning, all I-kick-demon-ass-and-fuck-the-costar cockiness, flicking her ear and asking her how the sex was until she almost punched him.

It wasn't that Amy didn't like how things were going it was just that she was starting to think that Jack might be a little too much of a gentlemen for her.

A little too nice.

A little too not with the touching yet. And Amy was going to scream.

\- -

Their third date was cut short because a ghost attached itself to Amy and wouldn't let go, sucking and sucking energy right out of her until she passed out.

Afterward, Tony had started to drag her around town to figure out the problem. Pretty much every other psychic could see it except... her. They'd walked into four different palm reading places, and all the nice little old ladies that Amy had thought were kind of frauds had offered her tea and a free counsel if she managed to survive the month.

She was glad that Tony didn't drag her to one of the places that she went to normally - she wasn't sure she could handle any of her people offering the same almost-condolences. And it was taking a bit too much of her energy to keep up small talk. But it was pretty cool to be the special one for a bit - even if it was because some stupid teenage girl didn't want to give up her once in a lifetime concert experience.

Amy refused to admit that she liked anything to do with The Moffatts. It was all that stupid girl. She didn't go to the concert, and that made th ghost that much more annoying, and the bubble gum pop on her hard drive started to get bigger.

The end end of that date, though, almost made everything alright. Jack really did smell nice as he was helping her stand up again. Helping her stumble back to her apartment and throwing her in the bed and making sure she was alright was just a bonus, really. Almost made the stupid boy band music worth it.

\- -

Tony spent a full week trying to figure out how to get rid of the spirit. Thankfully Amy could still work, though half the messages were going to the answering machine, or she'd be worried she might get fired.

The only decent thing was that date four and five happened in her apartment, and Jack didn't once blink at the B horrors she made him watch. Or the cheesy romantic comedies that she pretended actually belonged to an ex roommate. Amy decided that Jack not bitching meant more than any of the other stuff put together.

She still wasn't sure if the awkward hugs meant he thought of her as a kid sister yet. Somehow... she wasn't sure she wanted to ask.

Amy made sure to listen to as much Trans Siberian Light Orchestra as she could.

\- -

The cure to get rid of the spirit was half-sparkle half-eggnog and Amy was about to beat him with his bite-the-spirit-of-Christmas spell when she realized she could breath freely again.

Didn't need to take a nap anymore, could come up with snappy comebacks kind of breath easier.

She hugged Tony instead, and promised him she wouldn't bug him about Lee for at least a week.

At least, in Lee's presence.

\- -

Three weeks and many awkward dates later, Amy's cell phone buzzed animatedly beside her head, the alarm she'd forgotten to take off loudly reminding her to get the fucking hell up. She grumbled belatedly as she zombie-stepped toward her kitchen.

Her small apartment always reeked of patchouli, incense and candles in odd nooks and crannies the culprit for that, with an overtone of peppermint. Little arcane posters filled most of her walls, pictures of oddly written and stylized writing more than anything else. Interspersed almost chaotically were signed movie and tv posters from b horrors that had been filmed in Van. She liked to think her cross-stitched 'home sweet home' that her mother had sent added a nice touch of class to the place.

Most people called it eccentric with a little pause before the word. Amy called it home.

And in the morning, she called the sunlight coming in her kitchen window hell. Which was probably why she was barely into her first coffee by the time Tony called.

Insufferable ass had taken to calling her in the morning to remind her that he was getting laid. Repeatedly. By a hot actor.

"I hate you."

"You love me, admit it."

She grunted something unintelligible. Normally, she'd be the hideously perky one in the morning, but pre coffee? On a Saturday? Tony might be asking a lot then.

"So.... how is our formidable constable?" Tony almost sounded concerned. Almost.

"I think he thinks I'm his kid sister." Amy groaned a bit as she drank the too-hot coffee quickly.

"I think you think that he thinks that I think you're both crazy."

Amy squinted at her clock, again, trying to fuzz through the grit in her eyes, and whatever the hell Tony had just said. "Oh crap, Tony I've gotta go. We're supposed to meet for lunch."

"Wa--" Tony's voice was cut off as she snapped her phone closed.

Amy, somehow, felt justified.

\- -

Getting off the bus near Kitsilano was always a pain in the ass. This was mostly because the area was filled with more SUVs and "character" homes than anywhere else she frequented in Vancouver. Combined with the variety of people who lived there, most of whom were shopping madly, it meant that her visits were always more than a little unfriendly. For some reason, no one liked the pink in this area of town.

The yuppies were out in full swing as Amy hurried toward the beach, and she cursed under her breath as the slushy rain finally decided to solidify halfway through her walk. Rain in the middle of winter was common for Vancouver, but snow meant that the roads were going to be hell because it meant drivers felt they could hit whatever they wanted to. Including people.

Sidestepping a scary looking woman on the sidewalk with her scooter, Amy shivered irritably. It also meant things felt a lot colder than normal - especially near the water.

Sighing a bit, she half-jogged the last few blocks. Amy caught up with Jack near The Watermark, another one of those touristy places she hoped she'd never have to go to.

Jack lit up with a grin when he caught sight of her, and ushered her down the path. Past October the place wasn't hugely busy, and it worked well for a walk - even if it was slushing around them.

They walked in silence for a while, enjoying the view and moving away from the more populated areas to one more common with dog owners. It was empty, thankfully, and the snow had hardly made a light covering so they could watch their step. When Jack put his arm around her after a few more moments of silence, Amy paused and ducked away.

"Amy...?" He sounded confused. "If it's too--"

"Look! I feel like your kid sister or something with all these awkward hugs and half dates." Amy was talking fast, trying to get it out, pretend she wasn't frustrated.

Jack paused, looking down at her askance. "What?"

"Well, it's just I figured that you weren't... y'know. Interested. It's ok, you don't have to be so I thought that maybe that this should be it and so --"

Jack caught her wrist as she turned to walk away, expression conflicted. With the snow falling around, Amy had to admit that it felt like being in one of those cheeseball romantic comedies (which she, of course, did _not_ like) and she flailed a little bit before feeling the tug on her wrist again. And then Jack was finally kissing her, in the middle of the snow in the frozen beach.

And, for the first time, Amy didn't care that _she_ was the one that was pretty much falling into the stereotype.

She did, on the other hand, make sure to grab Jack's ass as she went in for the second kiss.

 

 

 


End file.
